Utricularia Care Guide: The Tiny Carnivorous Plant You Should Own
When most people think about carnivorous plants they picture a big dramatic Nepenthes pitcher or the snapping jaws of a Venus flytrap. Terrestrial Utricularia care is not something that comes up in most beginner conversations and honestly that’s a shame because these little plants are some of the most fascinating carnivores you can grow. They’re so small you could walk right over them and have no idea there was an entire world happening underneath your feet.
But here’s the thing about terrestrial Utricularia care that surprises most growers once they discover these plants. They couldn’t be easier to keep alive, they spread like crazy, they propagate in about thirty seconds, and when they bloom in unison they are absolutely stunning. Once you’ve grown them you’ll wonder why nobody talks about them more.
Utricularia care: What’s actually going on under the soil
Above the soil surface these plants look peaceful and almost delicate with their tiny flowers nodding in the air. Under the surface is a completely different story.
Running through the soil are thin thread-like stolons that look almost like roots. Scattered among those stolons are tiny bladder traps and these traps are genuinely remarkable. They are the fastest and most mechanically complex traps in all of carnivory. Each one is inflated with air and has a tiny trigger hair at the entrance. When a microscopic organism brushes against that trigger the trap sucks the prey inward and pushes the air out in a fraction of a millisecond. Most cameras can’t even capture it happening.
If you want to see just how intense this gets, look up videos of aquatic Utricularia capturing small aquatic prey. It’s gruesome in the best possible way. Now imagine that happening constantly, invisibly, right beneath the surface of that innocent looking little pot on your windowsill.
You’ll also notice that some of what looks like flower buds never fully open. Those are actually seed pods. The plant uses them alongside the underground stolons to spread rapidly and fill a pot faster than you’d expect.
Where to buy terrestrial Utricularia in the United States
If you’re in the United States and you want access to a serious variety of Utricularia species at fair prices, Avant Garden Gallery on Etsy is the place to go. I’ve bought from her for years and the quality, customer service and variety are all excellent. She carries everything from common species all the way up to rare varieties like orchioides and magna. If you’re outside the United States there are other options but for US growers this is a great starting point.
Terrestrial Utricularia care
Soil mix
A 50/50 peat and perlite mix works great. You can also substitute the perlite for blasting sand or another inert sand since many of these plants grow naturally in sandy environments. Fill the pot slightly below the rim and you’ll understand why in the next section.
Watering
This is where terrestrial Utricularia care gets fun. These are bog plants at heart and most of them love high water levels. Keeping the water level close to the soil surface at almost all times works really well for the majority of species.
The trick to Utricularia care is growing them in a deeper Rubbermaid tote so you can flood them periodically. About once a week or every two weeks you will fill the tote until the water line rises above the stolons then let it drain back down. That occasional flooding is what triggers flower spikes. That’s why you will fill the pot slightly below the rim, so there’s room for the water to come up and create that flood effect without spilling everywhere.
Then, let the water level drop to about 50% between floods and occasionally let it dry out slightly to prevent anaerobic soil conditions from developing. Other than that these plants pretty much take care of themselves.
Like all carnivorous plants, for Utricularia care, use distilled water, rainwater or reverse osmosis water. Never tap water.
Humidity
Don’t overthink this one. If you’re keeping the water level high the humidity around the plant takes care of itself.
Light
They do well with bright indirect light and make excellent companion plants alongside sundews. Think of it this way, if you have a sundew collection, tuck your Utricularia off to the side where they’re getting some of that light but not the full intensity. They don’t need as much as sundews and too much direct light will burn them.
Utricularia care: Propagating
This might be the easiest propagation in all of carnivorous plant growing. You literally just pinch off a small clump of stolons, drop it into a new pot of peat and perlite, keep the water level the same and walk away. That’s it. You’ll have a new colony establishing itself in no time.
The harder challenge with most terrestrial Utricularia is keeping them out of your other pots rather than getting them to grow. They spread through underground stolons and seed dispersal and they will fill a container fast. One heads up though, if you get a subulata it will take over everything near it. Keep it separated from your other plants unless you’re growing in a communal setup and don’t mind them mixing in.
A few species worth knowing
Utricularia longifolia: In the video you will see a great example of this one growing in an old fish tank with some sphagnum, peat moss and perlite. It’s received almost zero care and has completely taken over the tank. The stolons can reach around two feet in length when fully grown out. An amazing low effort plant.
Utricularia subulata: Spreads aggressively. Keep it separated unless you want it everywhere. Some growers love the communal look, just go in with eyes open.
One more thing worth mentioning, if you buy sundews or sometimes even Nepenthes you may find a surprise Utricularia popping up in the pot within a week or two. Species like dichotoma or blanchetti hitch rides in soil mixes all the time. Consider it a bonus, not a problem.
Utricularia care: Growing in jars and containers without drainage
Here’s something that would kill most carnivorous plants but Utricularia actually loves. Mason jars and closed containers with no drainage holes work really well for these plants because they are true bog plants that thrive in waterlogged conditions. For virtually every other carnivorous plant that setup would be a death sentence. For terrestrial Utricularia it’s a feature.
Why these plants deserve more attention
There are over 220 different species of Utricularia in the world. Most are small and compact enough that you can tuck them into the nooks and crannies of an existing collection without taking up meaningful space. They add an entire hidden layer to your growing setup, a whole carnivorous ecosystem operating just below the surface that most visitors to your collection will never even know is there.
If you’ve been focused on the big showy plants and haven’t explored Utricularia yet, terrestrial Utricularia care is genuinely one of the most rewarding rabbit holes in this hobby. Start with one pot and see what happens. Chances are good you’ll have five pots within a year whether you planned to or not.
What I Use for Utricularia
Soil & Watering
- Hoffman Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss — base of my Utricularia soil mix
- Perlite — mix 50/50 with peat
- Rubbermaid Storage Tote — perfect for the flood watering technique that triggers flower spikes
- Distilled Water Jugs — always use mineral free water
Containers
- Small Plastic Pots — great for starting new Utricularia colonies
- Mason Jars — Utricularia love these, unlike most carnivorous plants
Where to Buy Utricularia
- Avant Garden Gallery on Etsy — where I buy all my Utricularia, highly recommended for US growers
Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.
Watch the full video on Utricularia care
The video above, shows the flowers up close, demonstrates the flooding technique and gives you a look at the longifolia growing in the old fish tank. Well worth watching alongside this guide.
Questions about Utricularia care? Drop them in the YouTube comments. Or visit The Facebook Group. The community there is incredibly helpful!
Keep learning
- How To Grow Nepenthes Truncata From XS to XL
- Ultimate Nepenthes Truncata Grow Guide! Grow Like A Pro!
- Utricularia: The Mighty Miniature Carnivorous Plant!
- Utricularia: The Killer Plant Everyone Should Own!
- How to Trim Nepenthes: Dead Pitchers, Leaves & Flower Stalks
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Utricularia care
When you think of carnivorous plants the first thing that comes to mind are the big beautiful Nepenthes traps or maybe the exotic looking Venus flytrap or the glistening dew on a sundew. But in today’s video I’m going to talk about a very different carnivorous plant, one that deserves to be in every collection. When it flowers it is absolutely stunning but it’s so diminutive that you could walk over it and not even know that there was an entire world going on underneath your feet.
I’m using a tripod for this because my shaky hands would never be able to hold still for this plant. These are very very small plants. This is a terrestrial Utricularia. What’s really cool about their size is it allows you to collect quite a lot of them in your collection in a very small space. The other thing that makes these plants cool is just how vicious their carnivory is. While they look stoic and blissful on the top, underneath is a very dystopian world going on. They will produce quite a lot of these flowers. Some of them will open up fully into flowers and some of them will create little balls that look like flowers that didn’t open up. Those are actually seed pods that will help this plant spread.
Before we get into how it spreads let’s talk about what’s happening under the soil surface. Under that surface are more stolons that look almost like roots and intermixed between those are little tiny traps that are capturing microscopic prey. What’s happening is pretty dang impressive. These traps while they are small are the fastest and most complex traps in all of carnivory. They are capable of capturing prey so fast that most cameras can’t even capture it. What they’re doing is they have a little trap down there that’s inflated full of air and there is a trigger hair on the end, much like a Venus flytrap. When the bug comes by it hits the trigger hair and the trap sucks the prey in and pushes the air out. There are videos on YouTube showing this process happening and while it is on a small scale it is gruesome, especially if you have a larger aquatic Utricularia that is capturing prey like a very small minnow. If it gets only half of it in there it is going to eat what it has and then suck in the rest.
I highly recommend these terrestrial carnivorous plants because once they start blooming in unison they are absolutely gorgeous and they spread very very fast. They spread through these underground stolons and also through seed dispersal and they will fill up a pot very fast. Propagating them is extremely easy. You simply just pinch off a piece, stolons and all, grab a chunk, pull it off, and then plop it down in the middle of another peat perlite or peat sand mix and you are good to go.
Some of them grow faster than others and if you buy carnivorous plants like sundews and even sometimes Nepenthes you will be surprised in a week or so when one of these pops up like a dichotoma or a blanchetti depending on when you get them. They’re an absolute treat to have and they are a great addition to any carnivorous plant collection.
Avant Garden Gallery is a seller that I have worked with for years now and I could not recommend her more. If you live in the United States you’re not going to get more options for very unique Utricularia anywhere than Avant Garden Gallery. The prices are fantastic, the customer service is impeccable, and that is why I continue to go back to her. She is very responsive and just fantastic. You can get some amazing Utricularia there. She has everything from magna to orchioides variety and all the way up. The store is only through Etsy but I can tell you it is very much verified. I have bought all of my Utricularia from her. If you are outside of the United States there are other options but for US growers I highly recommend her.
Now let’s talk about Utricularia care and how you take care of these amazing plants. What I have here is a very diminutive restrada. It’s got some sphagnum moss growing over the stolons which is okay, they will do just fine in there. I might remove some of it just to make sure there’s proper photosynthesis occurring for those stolons. This is a terrestrial bladderwort so it’s just like the ones we’ve been talking about.
Utricularia care The care for them could not be easier. The soil mix they love is about 50/50 peat perlite or you could do blasting sand or some other type of inert sand. A lot of them grow in very sandy environments so they will do well in that. What you want to do is fill that up to the pot level or a little bit under and I’ll explain why in a minute.
Terrestrial bladderworts for the most part enjoy a high water level. There are some that don’t but for the most part, like a bisquamata or a fistulosa, they like a high water level. What will happen is if you give them an occasional flooding they will spike flowers for you and that’s why I like to leave a little bit of a lip there. I leave them in a deeper Rubbermaid tote so that I’m able to easily flood them. I keep the water level almost up to the soil surface basically at all times. I’ll let it drop down a little bit to about 50% and on occasion I will let it dry out just to keep from having anaerobic soil conditions. I have found that they do very well in very high water levels. Most of these plants grow on the water’s edge and are semi-aquatic.
The water you’re going to want to use for Utricularia care is again distilled water, reverse osmosis water or rainwater. What will happen is, because I’ve been flooding these, that’s why they’re starting to spike flowers for me. About once a week or so, maybe once every two weeks, I’ll fill up the Rubbermaid tote enough that it puts the water line above the stolons and then let it drain out and that will cause them to want to spike flowers.
As far as humidity goes, don’t worry about it. The water level is going to take care of that for you. As far as lighting goes they do appreciate good light. I would say they do well as companion plants with sundews. They don’t need quite that much light because you will burn them but they do like dappled light. What I do is I have my sundew collection and off to the side I have them growing where they’re getting bright indirect light and they will do fantastic for you. They’re just some of the most easygoing plants.
Utricularia care: Like I said, propagating is more of a challenge trying to keep them out of things than to get them to grow, especially the terrestrial ones. Fair warning though, if you do get a subulata they will take over so you want to make sure that you keep them separated from your other plants if you don’t want them spreading in there. I happen to like to grow my plants in more of a communal setting so I like that I have all these carnivorous plants whether subterranean or on top of the soil growing intermixed with each other. That is the only caveat I will say. They will grow fast.
The other cool thing about these plants is let them grow until they fill the pot and once they do that most of them will trigger flower spikes because they can tell they need to spread their seeds out. Propagating like I said earlier is completely as easy as it gets. You literally just take a pinch of stolons and all, grab a chunk, pull it off and then plop it down in the middle of another peat perlite or peat sand mix and you are good to go.
They also like growing in pots if you don’t have a tub. If you want to keep it on the windowsill they also like growing in pots like mason jars that have no holes. Now for most carnivorous plants that would be a death sentence but for these they love it. They are very much bog plants and so you can simply do that and they will grow leaps and bounds for you and they will flower a lot.
If you get a sandersonii, which I’ll put the name on here, angry bunny, it will profusely flower for you and will stay actively flowering for you most of the year. Their little tiny flowers look like angry bunnies hence the name.
Here is an example of longifolia. I just had an extra fish tank when I used to collect fish and I just dropped it in there with some extra sphagnum, peat and perlite. I’ve given it literally zero care and it’s absolutely taking over. This was a small clump not too long ago and it just does amazingly. It doesn’t get much light and doesn’t need it though and will absolutely take off. The stolons will get much larger than this when fully grown out with this low light, about two feet in length. This is an amazing plant to own. I highly recommend it. Like I said though keep it separated because it will take over.
I certainly hope that you’ve enjoyed this journey of carnivory Utricularia care on a very very small scale. I believe these plants deserve to be in everyone’s collections. They are an essential part of the carnivorous plant story. There are over 220 different varieties of them. They’re small and compact for the most part so you can grow them in very small spaces in the nooks and crannies of your collection and just see that extra layer, like peeling back the onion of the wonderful world of carnivorous plants.
Remember to shop small. If you are in the United States Avant Garden Gallery is the place to go on Etsy. She is fantastic, I could not recommend her enough. Her plants are beautiful, they are well taken care of, she’s a wellspring of knowledge and I could not recommend them more. I hope that you’ve enjoyed this video. If you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to reach out. Please like and subscribe to this channel if you don’t mind. I want to grow this community as large as possible. As always have a wonderful day and a wonderful week. I’ll see you soon.
